Patsaouras Transit Plaza

Patsaouras Transit Plaza is a bus station on the east side of Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, near the El Monte Busway. It was originally named the Gateway Transit Plaza but was renamed after Nick Patsaouras, former Rapid Transit District board member who was an advocate for public transportation.

Patsaouras Transit Plaza
The transit plaza and Union Station east portal
Location801 N. Vignes Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
United States
Coordinates34°03′19″N 118°13′59″W
Owned byLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Platforms2 multi-bay island platforms
Bus stands15
ConnectionsUnion Station (trains)
Construction
Platform levels3
Parking3,000 park & ride spaces ($6 a day)
Bicycle facilities24 bike rack spaces
20 locker spaces
Disabled accessYes
Location

The MTA Building is at the northern end of the plaza.

Services

Metro and municipal buses

Several other services' bus stops are located near the Patsaouras Transit Plaza:

Vignes Street entrance to transit plaza

LAX FlyAway
FlyAway coach at the Patsaouras Transit Plaza.

LAX FlyAway service is offered between Union Station and Los Angeles International Airport. FlyAway buses run every 30 minutes between 5 am and 1 am and on the hour between 1 am and 5 am. Tickets are sold from a ticket kiosk at the southwest corner of the island platform.

Long-distance motorcoach

Megabus provides several routes from the Patsaouras Transit Plaza:

BoltBus also operates long-distance motor-coach routes from Union Station. They do not use the plaza itself, but stop at a curb on the west side of the station.[1][2]

J Line expansion
The new transitway station under construction in July 2017

A new transitway station for the J Line and other transit buses operating on the El Monte Busway was built south of the Patsaouras Transit Plaza in the median of the El Monte Busway. The project has been planned for years but has been beset by delays and an increasing budget.

The station allows buses traveling in both directions on the busway to serve Union Station with a minimum of delay for passengers for other destinations.[3][4] A bridge allows for passengers to walk directly from the Patsaouras Transit Plaza to the busway station, thereby eliminating a long, convoluted walk across the Union Station property to the former stop located on the El Monte Busway at Alameda.

Construction on the station started in early 2017. Work on the station was halted on April 24, 2018, when archaeological and Native American artifacts were discovered at the site. Archaeological investigation field work was completed nearly a year later on April 12, 2019. Construction resume in May 2019, with construction completed on November 1, 2020.[5]

The project now costed $51 million, well more than double the original estimate. The project is funded by tolls collected as a part of the Metro ExpressLanes project and a grant from the U.S. government.[6][7][8]

The new transitway station platform opened for service in November 2020

References
  1. BoltBus (15 October 2013). "BoltBus To Launch Service In California On Oct. 31" (Press release). Dallas, Texas: PR Newswire. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  2. BoltBus (10 December 2013). "BoltBus Expands From Los Angeles; Adds Las Vegas, San Francisco Service" (Press release). Dallas, Texas: PR Newswire. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  3. "Patsaouras Plaza/El Monte Busway Station". EE&K Architects. Perkins Eastman.
  4. "Patsaouras Plaza Connector (Conceptual Plan)". Flickr. May 12, 2009.
  5. "Metro's Union Station Patsaouras Plaza Busway Station is Open". Streetsblog Los Angeles. 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  6. McCarty Carino, Meghan (January 2, 2017). "Metro starts work on pedestrian bridge at LA's Union Station". KPCC. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  7. Clarke, Richard (May 2019). "Program Management Major Project Status Report" (PDF). Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  8. "Union Station Patsaouras Bus Plaza Receives $51 Million Renovation". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
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